


The Greatest Fear

by Mandergee



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Captain Swan - Freeform, F/M, Future Fic, Spoilers for "Swan Song"., Spoilers for 5x11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 10:51:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5372630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mandergee/pseuds/Mandergee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, to face your fears, you only need to know that someone else once had them too.</p>
<p>And if that someone is your father...it may make it even easier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Greatest Fear

**Author's Note:**

> There are spoilers involved for 5x11, "Swan Song", so if you haven't watched it yet (and therefore seen the 'preview' for the next half of the season) don't go past this point.  
> ~~~~

               “The dark is nothing to be afraid of, Sweetheart. I’m here. _We’re_ here.” Her fingers brushed long strands of sandy blonde from a face of dreams- _her_ dreams, Emma thought with a burst of wonder- and she gazed thoughtfully into the wide eyes that blinked up at her from his bed. “Close your eyes, Liam.”

               “I’m afraid, Mama.”

               “I know, baby. I know. But _you_ know Papa and I are downstairs, don’t you? And we sleep right down the hall- we’re always going to be here when you need us.”

               “Papa isn’t afraid of the dark, is he?” His fear had given way, in part, to a ploy she recognized well after four wonderfully exhausting and fulfilling years- and it was one that brought a smile to her lips only as tiny, gentle fingers found their way into her hand. He’d ask questions, and sometimes those questions would tap into a wealth of stories to prolong bedtime for _hours_ , relevant or not. But try as she might, she’d never been able to stop answering them.

               “Your papa-“

               “I was, lad. Once upon a time…I was a boy much like yourself, and aye- I was _quite_ afraid.” Tired blue eyes lit up at the appearance of Papa in the doorway, and Emma slid aside easily to allow Killian access to their son and his quest for a new source of bravery. He’d known, she realized, what had been keeping her hostage and away from their time alone downstairs. “But what I’ll tell you is the same as my own father told me.”  
               “What, Papa?”

               “You just look in here,” He tapped the tiny chest, smiling at the giggle that burst from a face that was, he’d once told Emma, the mirror image of his brother. They’d named him Liam to honor the uncle he’d never know, the man whose life his father had wished he could only live up to if he had the time to try. And she’d given him the time- come to find him and bring him back to use it. “You think of the man you want to be when you grow up, Liam Swan. How brave that man is going to be.”

               “But to _become_ that man…a certain little sailor needs his rest,” Emma reminded them both, gently, and her fingers relinquished those of her son in order to thread smoothly through those of the man she loved. “Killian- promise him we’ll leave the light on.”

               “You heard your mother, lad. We’ll leave the hall light on, as always- and you remember what I told you. How to find us if you’re scared.”

               “Second door to the right, and I can stay until morning?”  
               “But I want you to give this your best try, sweetheart.” Emma pressed her lips against the smooth forehead, smiled as Killian leaned in to do the same a moment later before following her to the doorway. Her fingers brushed the light switch, and as the room plunged into darkness it was Killian’s hand in hers that kept her from turning it on again. Their baby boy had whimpered softly in the dark, and her heart ached for all the nights she knew she was asking him to face his greatest fear. “We love you, Liam.”

               “Rest easy, lad.” The door stayed open- hallway light sending a sliver of illumination into a room the color of a sea at rest, and Emma’s fingers curled tightly around the knob until her husband gently pried them away. “Emma. It’s all right.”

               “I hate doing that to him.” She kept her voice low, let him lead her down the hall and quietly down the stairs, bare feet hardly making a sound against the polished wood. The house they lived in was the house Killian had chosen for them, and despite the turmoil surrounding it…they’d made it into a home with _good_ memories. Liam, she thought with a smile, was among the best of them all. “He’s so scared.”

               “And despite that fear the boy does know how to twist his mother around his little finger.”   

               “There’s that,” Emma admitted. “But that’s always been the hardest part. How can I resist telling him how brave his father _is_ , Killian, if it’s going to help him go to sleep at night?”

               “Easy, love.” They’d been watching the sky, curled up beneath an afghan on the chaise she’d moved onto the porch, and a breeze from the still open door stirred his hair as Killian looked down at the woman he’d pulled in his arms. “We’ll borrow the book from Henry- let the boy get a look at the beginning of the tale before we finish telling him the end.”

               “Is this the end?” Her own question was a whisper, and as she looked into his eyes she knew it wasn’t. Knew that somewhere, deep inside of her, another life stirred and the continuation of a story she hadn’t begun to tell was beginning to develop. But she held back the words, pressed her ear against her husband’s chest, and smiled at the sound of a heartbeat that shared it’s rhythm with her own. It could wait, their new future, until she’d had time to appreciate the present just a little more.

               “I think he’s finally asleep, love.”

  
               “And I think it’s time for us to do the same thing.” In the darkness of their own bedroom she’d listen to his half of their heart again, let the warmth of his body lull her into sleep as the home they’d built together settled around them. And as she let him lead her up the stairs again Emma waved her hand toward the open door, hearing them secure with a click as she trailed up the stairs behind the man she loved. 

                 

**Author's Note:**

> I know I didn't do the quote about the darkness exactly right- but honestly, I really couldn't go back and watch that. Not yet. It was FAR too painful to delve into just for accuracy.


End file.
